Category Archives: blog

I would like to say a big thank out to everyone who has submitted their
accounts. If you have not these are now overdue and should be submitted
to your District Commissioner immediately.

With the summer holidays approaching I know units will be going on trips
and outings. Please have a great time and let’s hope the weather is kind.

Looking forward to seeing lots of guiders at our Division camp. It will be
great to spend a weekend with so many enthusiastic guiders and I know
we will have a great camp.

Could I finish by thanking everyone for their commitment to guiding. I really
do appreciate all your dedication and hard work. Enjoy your well earned summer
break, have a good rest and recharge your batteries.

As we are coming to the end of the session, hopefully the girls are able to take advantage of the better weather and light nights and get outdoors. We are always looking for good Guiding photos so please send us any you have which you think would be suitable for the website or other publication (provided everyone has permission to photograph of course).

At the last Division Meeting a date was set for the Division leaders night out – Friday 8th June. We are proposing to go back to Nakodar in Annfield Place, just off Duke Street as it was good last year. if you want to go, please let us know as soon as possible by emailing HYPERLINK “mailto:northeast@girlguidingglasgow.org.uk” \o “mailto:northeast@girlguidingglasgow.org.uk” northeast@girlguidingglasgow.org.uk

Unit accounts should be sent to Elaine by the end of the week – any problems please let one of us know.

We wish you all a relaxing summer break and to the Guides attending the Regional Camp -have a great time and fingers crossed for sunshine!

Carolyn & Elaine

East North East

Nothing Submitted

South East

Nothing Submitted

South

As I write this sitting in the sun I have my fingers crossed for good weather for those of you off to pack holiday/ camps/ trips over the coming weeks!

Our trip to the Safari Park in 2nd June has had fabulous uptake with 273 members going! Buses will be leaving at 9.30am and returning around 5pm. I will be in seperate contact regarding pick up points – juggling units/ buses at the moment. Please remind the girls to bring sunscreen, packed lunches and waterproofs.

Accounts to 31st March should be with the district commissioners by now – thank you in advance for your support with this project. Please remember that those of you who registered with OSCR need to do your annual return when you get the accounts signed. It takes 5 minutes once you know what you are doing – please just ask if you need help.

I am looking forward to a nice relaxing summer recharging batteries for another busy year :

Dalguise has been booked for March – 110 of us going at the moment – I have paid the deposits so would be grateful if those of you who havent yet could send the money to Claire as soon as possible so I can get it back! We can only now add to numbers if PGL agree as I surrendered the rest of the ones I had on hold.

I will be organising a christmas raffle again – let me know if your unit wishes to participate to raise money towards this or any other trips ( units keep 90% of funds raised) – i will be ordering tickets over the summer.

Next term there will be a brownie christmas party and guide silent disco the first Thursday in December ( the brownie party will be half traditional party, half disco). We will repeat the trips to Ryze in Holy week and we are going to Edinburgh Zoo the first Saturday in June. On top of that County also have extensive plans so should be a great year!

As we’ve not had a get-together for sometime, how about we have a wee meet up to tell everyone what we’ve been doing over the last year and what we’ve got planned for next year?
How about a wee afternoon tea somewhere (Fiona makes lovely cakes and I’m sure someone can make a cuppa)? If you can provide your hall and if we can all agree on a date sometime in June, preferably before 23rd June when I’m off an a cruise (selfish, I know) and we can get the ball rolling.
We look forward to hearing from you with lots of suggestions.

Contact either of us – marian823@hotmail.co.uk or Feesommerville@gmail.com
Marian & Fiona

I would like to thank everyone who attended our World Thinking Day event. It
was nice to see Rainbows, Brownies and Guides all having fun together. I have a few
extra WAGGS challenge badges if anyone did not get one. Our thinking day
pennies will be sent to WAGGS.

Subscriptions

Could I remind everyone the deadline for payments is 15 March. If you have
sent off your cheque please accept my apologies for yet another reminder and
accept my thanks for being prompt.
It would be great if our Division was showing as 100% paid by 15 March and I
would be extremely happy.

Division Meeting

There will be a Division meeting on Tuesday 27 March at 7.30 pm. This will take place
in BP hall in Guide Headquarters. Please try and come along.

PVG’s

Could I remind everyone that no one can attend a residential event unless they have a guiding PVG. This is non
negotiable and your District Commissioner cannot give you permission to
attend unless you have a PVG. I realise that the summer is on the horizon but
I must stress that if you do not have a PVG you cannot attend any camps or
Indoor holidays.

PVG’s are very important and are a priority. If you do not have a PVG please
speak to your District Commissioner who will arrange to have it completed.

Division Camp. 15/17 June

The deadline for numbers was 5 March. A few guiders have contacted me to
say they did not meet last week, because of the weather, and asked for a
little more time. I agreed to this and the absolute deadline for numbers of
brownies, guides and senior section girls is Monday 26th March. Deposits
can be brought to Division meeting on Tuesday 27th March if not already
paid. Cheques should be made payable to Northern Division camp account.

Can I finish by saying a big thank you to everyone involved in guiding in North Division.
I am extremely grateful for all the dedication and hard work
that is ongoing and look forward to seeing you all soon.

Thank you

Anne Chapman | North@girlguidingglasgow.org.uk

North East Division

Thanks to everyone who helped out at our Mexican themed Thinking Day event on 17th February. Although the numbers were small, the girls who did attend had a ball and that is down to the time and effort put in by all our volunteers.

Can you please make sure you download your Subscriptions invoice right away if you haven’t already done so. We still have a lot of units who have not viewed their invoices, and it in important that we get all of the invoices paid, ideally by 15th March which is not far away!
If anyone needs a Division cheque to pay their subs, please contact Carolyn or Irene.

The next Division Meeting will be on Wednesday 14th March at 7.30pm at Carntyne Church Hall. Amongst other things, we are hoping to organise a leader’s night out as we didn’t have one in February.

Also, if you need any advice or help with your unit accounts please bring them along to the meeting (on paper, on your laptop / tablet or on a memory stick) and we will try to help. Unit accounts need to be finalised and handed in by the second week in April, so if we can sort out any problems at this meeting it will save us all a lot of time later.

Reminder for Guides going to the Regional Camp – the Division has paid the first deposit and that should be refunded to the Division if not already done. The second instalment of £20 is due by 13th March and can be sent to Headquarters directly or paid through the Division. Please contact Carolyn if you want to pay through the Division. The final instalment of £35 will be payable by 30th April.

Hope to see you all on 14th March.

Carolyn & Elaine | NorthEast@Girlguidingglasgow.org.uk

East North East Division

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South East Division

Nothing Submitted this month

South Division

Nothing Submitted this month

South West Division

Nothing Submitted this month

West Division

A huge thank you to you all for paying your Census well within the deadline – all Units have now paid and a Division cheque will be sent to GGUK this week. Next due are Unit Accounts as at 31st March. Fiona and Emma will be taking your accounts from end of April and would like them all completed by the end of May, in line with County’s timescales. Please ensure all bank statements are enclosed with your accounts and for those registered with OSCR two sets of accounts are required. If you require any support completing your accounts both Fiona and Emma will be happy to assist so please don’t panic, help is at hand!

Have you signed your girls up for County Camp on 23rd – 25th May? Looks to be a fantastic event with over 350 Guides from all over Strathclyde taking part. A few places remain so don’t let your Guides miss out, register via Theresa below. There are also still spaces available for Brownies to attend the 50th Anniversary celebrations at Achachairdeis at 2-5pm on Saturday, 28th April. Cost of the event is £5 with transport being organised centrally. Lots of fun activities for the girls to do including outdoor trails, a magic show, crafts and of course Birthday cake! If you require further information you can contact Theresa from our Division, who is involved in the organising of these events with the County’s Outdoor team (outdoor@girlguidingglasgow.org.uk)

Our first lot of training took part on 4th March 2018 consist of what your expedition aims are, what to take and what not to take to your expedition. We also learnt how to light a candle using both matches and lighters and then how to safely blow out both the matches and candle. Once we’d successfully mastered this, we went outdoors to cook on a trangia – we took turns practicing putting fuel in and lighting the fuel to cook our lunch. We had fun cooking on the trangias and cooked two courses: Starter was hot chocolate or cup-a-soup & our Main was a mixture of pasta, rice, couscous or smash (All this is possible if you use water (bring to a boil)) or use the microwavable packets that you can buy off the shelves.

Once we had eaten, we moved on to putting up different types of tents up. We practiced on two types of 3-man and a 4-man tent. The point of the task wasn’t just to put tents up, it was a test of our communication skills as well, working together to get the tents up safely & quickly (& correctly so they don’t fall down in the night!). Once the tents were up, each group went around to test them out so that they know what to expect when comes to their expedition.

After all the fun stuff was over, it was down to business for the last couple of hours. We went on to how to read a map and how to plan a route from A to Z. Once we’d decided a route, we had to measure each section in kilometres. Then we had to write down in detail what the compass was saying on the angle of the direction we would be heading. All these steps lead us to create our own route cards. A route card is a safety measure and is completed before setting out on the journey. A route card covers map reference, bearings, distance, major height climb, times estimated and description of the route. Its to help you if you loose your map so you still know where you need to go.

The day was a great adventure from start to finish. Lisa, Anna, Lizzie and Rachel (the leaders), were very helpful and supportive. They took the time to explain the bits of the training you needed help with. I learnt so much about what I am good at and what I need to work on to achieve my Duke of Edinburgh. I am looking forward to doing more trainings and getting to take part in my practice expedition as well as my assessed expedition.

February 22nd is a special day for members of Girlguiding. This day, known as Thinking Day, is celebrated by Guides and Scouts across the world and is used by many to learn about Guides in other countries and to remake their promise.

North West Division Celebrations

North West Division held Thinking Day events for Rainbows, Brownies and Guides on Saturday 24th Feb.

Rainbows collected their passports to travel round the world to the five world centres. Activities included games, crafts, science and dancing.

Brownies undertook activities using the letters of the word IMPACT. Activities included Indian dancing, Magic show, Promise knots, Action games, candles and being together.

Guides had a theme of coming together. They did team building exercises and friendship bracelets which were then swapped with another guide. They also tested their guiding knowledge with a scavenger quiz.

At the end, each section got together and renewed their promise.

What did the girls say?

I really enjoyed the World thinking day event my favourite activities were the magic show and the Bollywood dancing it was so fun! It was a great experience I would definitely do it again!
Betsy – 48th Brownies

I really enjoyed the North West Glasgow Thinking day event in Scotsoun Parish church; I enjoyed making the friendship bracelets and then having to swap them at the end. We did a few other activities in different groups of five, such as; a treasure hunt/quiz hunts, where to win, we had to say our promise. Then we got a packet of 15 balloons and had to blow them up and stack them as high as we could, at the end of the day we renewed our promise then sang taps. A big thank you to all the leaders who were involved in this years thinking day event, well done!
Emma – 124th Guides

What the leaders say

It was great seeing the rainbows coming together meeting other rainbows from the division. They enjoyed traveling to the different countries to visit the world centres and especially enjoyed making volcanos!

First a quick reminder about our World Thinking Day celebrations – it is on
Saturday 24 February at 2.45 – 4.30pm. Please contact your District Commissioner
If you are able to come along. It would be great to have a mix of girls, from
all sections, meeting together and having fun.

Division Camp

The deadline for numbers and deposits has been extended to Tuesday 5th March.
Please encourage your girls to come along to this event. This will be a first for
the Division i.e. having brownies, guides and senior section girls all camping
together. The deadline for numbers and deposits is 5 March.

If you are thinking about coming to camp but have no camping experience
Please do not worry there will be help available. This will be a fun weekend
for both the girls and their leaders. I would love you to bring your girls
along.

Housekeeping Issues

Could I please ask all unit guiders to ensure their administration processes
are robust. Please look at your waiting lists etc. and ensure that the information
Is accurate and up to date.

PVG’s

It is vital that everyone attending a residential event has a PVG. I know there
are still a few to be completed. Your District Commissioner will be in touch
to arrange to have these carried out ASAP.

Accounts

It is approaching the cut off date for unit accounts. All accounts must be
closed off as of 31 March 2018. If anyone is struggling with their accounts
please let me know. As in previous years we can have a wee session
In HQ to get them sorted out.

To finish could I wish everyone a happy World Thinking Day.

Ann | north@girlguidingglasgow.org.uk

South Division

I hope everyrhing is going well with your units and I particularly want to welcome all our new volunteers.

Exciting times ahead for growth starting with our new senior section unit in Govanhill which opens next month.

Jacqui has emailed out about numbers for our community action in Queens Park on 3rd March – please let her know numbers.

Info about transport for our events at Ryze will follow via email. We have a few spaces on the Wednesday. Looking for 4 spare for the Thursday if anyone bought too many.

Happy World Thinking Day!!
If your month is going anything like mine you will be astounded that we are mid-way through February with Thinking Day our next big Girlguiding celebration!

My own Guide unit has been busy preparing patrol projects based on a country of their choice. Wednesday 21st will see the patrols prepare food from each of their countries and share what they have learned before we renew our promise!

It is one of my favourite Guide unit meetings of the year! Each unit has their own Thinking Day Traditions so please share all that you are getting up to on our Girlguiding Glasgow Members page and don’t forget to use the hashtag #WTD2018.

This year’s World Thinking Day WAGGGS Theme is Impact and I wanted to take this opportunity to thank you for the impact you are having as a volunteer to the young girls and women in your care. There are many Division events taking place in the County over the next two weeks many creatively using the theme ‘Impact’ to engage our youth members about our global organisation. I would like to extend my thanks to the Division volunteers who have ‘Stepped Up’ to the challenge and taken on roles organising events – they don’t happen by magic and your efforts never go unnoticed and are sincerely appreciated by the girls, leaders and your Division Commissioner. I am hopeful to visit a few events and share your celebrations!

I also wanted to advise that our County President Maureen Reid’s role is due to finish at the end of the month. Maureen has been a tremendous support to me as a new County Commissioner and has been an exemplary figurehead for our organisation. A celebratory supper is being arranged to thank Maureen for her time supporting our County. With this in mind, I am delighted to advise that Morag Liddell has accepted the role of County President as of 1st March. I am sure you will all join me in wishing Morag every success in her new role. I very much forward to working alongside her over the next few years!

It was great to see some of our Division leaders at the Annual Review in the City Chambers. Thanks to the 282Guides who held our Division banner, and also catered for our last Division meeting.

I am sure you all have exciting plans for Christmas with your girls – please pass on any information and photos – we are always looking for ideas for the website and the Annual Report.

Our next event will be for Thinking Day on Saturday 17 February 2018 -save the date! Details will be available in the New Year. We are looking for volunteer to help with the planning and on the day. If you can help please email us on northeast@girlguidingglasgow.org.uk

A date for our next Division meeting will be circulated in the New Year.

Glasgow Celebrates : Thanks to Sophia, Kiera, Kirstyn and Nicola for representing our Division, you were awesome. Congratulations to all our award recipients.

Rainbows 30th Party : 60 girls came together to celebrate this Big Birthday and what fun they had, Picture Frames, Windchimes, Edible beaches and Cake. A fantastic time, thanks to everyone who planned, shopped and helped deliver such an exciting event.

Thanks and Recognition evening: Thank you to everyone who managed along and for your enthusiastic participation in our party games. Thanks Janice & Anne for providing the refreshments. Congratulations to Eleanor, Megan, Carolynn and Lynn on receiving your long service awards.

Just before I finish for the year a personal thanks to you all for all the hours you donate to South East Division, without which a lot of girls and young women’s lifes would not be as rich.

Enjoy your Christmas Festivities and look forward to the changes that 2018 is going to bring. I would like to wish you and your families a very Merry Christmas and a Happy and Healthy New Year.

It has been a fabulous few weeks and I have had lots of fun out and about in the County which is my most favourite part of my role. Highlights over the last few weeks have been attending the BBC studios to support a Rainbow Young Leader from Inverness as she participated in the BBC One Show Rickshaw challenge as part of a team cycling from London TV studio to our very own BBC Pacific Quay. It was a bitterly cold evening however the Guides and leaders who joined me enjoyed seeing behind the scenes and of course meeting Pudsey!

Our next event was joining together as a County in Glasgow City Chambers to celebrate our Girlguiding year and present our youth members with the numerous awards they have achieved this year. It was a lovely evening and demonstrated the passion and commitment our leaders make to members across the city and all the wonderful opportunities Girlguiding can offer. We were honoured to have many distinguished guests join us on the evening including Girlguiding Scotland’s newly appointed Chief Commissioner who spoke about her passion for growing Girlguiding in Scotland an aspiration shared by us all in #TeamGlasgow. Our annual report was also launched to coincide with our annual review which can be view here.

Our Guides then had the opportunity to join together at the City of Glasgow College for a workshop delivered in partnership with BAE System focusing on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) challenges inspired by the Clever Clogs badge produced by Girlguiding North West Region. Thank you our Queen’s Guide Coordinator Heather Plummer who led on the event from Girlguiding Glasgow and all our Counties Queen’s Guide Candidates who supported the event. To find out more about the event please click here.

It was cake and celebrations all round as I joined the County celebrating the contributions of Jean Renfrew to our fabulous Achachairdeis campsite. Jean has been one of the powerhouses behind the facility for many years and an afternoon tea was held in headquarters where Jean was joined by many Girlguiding friends to thank her for the time, passion and commitment she has gifted to our County.

South East Division held their Rainbow’s 30th Birthday celebrations based on Girlguiding Scotland’s mermaid challenge pack. I loved joining in the celebrations and joining the youngest Rainbow at the party to cut the cake. It was even more special for me as the Rainbow unit I attended hosted the party and my Rainbow leader is still leading the way and providing wow adventures to the unit!

South East later in the month also hosted their annual Thanks and Recognition event celebrating the good Guiding taking place in the Division and presentation of long service awards. Thank you for the invite and even more so for the delicious cakes and good chat!

Out with the events noted above, I have attended, Clyde Regional Scouts Award presentation, South West District Gang show, Girlguiding West Lanarkshire County Annual Celebration and our County Team Christmas celebration to name a few….. it has been a busy few weeks!

As units start getting into full Christmas party mode I want to take this opportunity to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a prosperous and peaceful new year!

I look forward to 2018 and excited about the fabulous Girlguiding adventures and fun which awaits us all.

My last few weeks in Girlguiding Glasgow have been very busy after a few weeks downtime from unexpected illness. At times such as this you really appreciate being part of a movement such as Girlguiding as many Guiding friends sent well wishes and I even had a delivery of Galaxy chocolate in abundance which aided my recover superbly. Thanks to everyone for their well wishes and to Evelyn and the rest of the team who covered my diary and inbox over the two weeks and for everyone’s understanding as I have been getting back up to speed!

First diary commitment was with my Senior Section unit on a flying visit to Blackpool Pleasure Beach for the day a very early start from Glasgow Central meant we were at the park for it opening at 9:30am ready for a fast day of fun in the park. Our timing was impeccable as Ministry of Sound had guest DJ’s playing so we were entertained all day!

The following weekend Evelyn and I spent the day in Edinburgh at Girlguiding Scotland taking some time out to catch up on our epic Girlguiding Glasgow ‘to do’ list which was highly productive and satisfying. Our hard work was rewarded by a lovely evening meal, with the new Scottish Chief Guide, Dr Moira McKenna, who was keen to learn more about our County, the challenges we face and our aspirations. It was a lovely evening sharing our passion for Girlguiding and telling her about all the wonderful activity going on across our County.

Next up on the agenda was the Scottish County Commissioners weekend at Netherurd, this time round we had a bonus day added into the programme to complete the level four Safe Space training which was delivered by Girlguiding staff on the Friday, before the conference commenced in the evening through to Sunday afternoon. A full on agenda was covered by the new Scottish Chief Commissioner team with a clear ambition to grow Girlguiding in Scotland!!!

Back to Edinburgh by invitation of Girlguiding Scotland for our Executive team the following weekend to undertake a governance review and an opportunity for the team to review our progress to date and review the plan we are following going forward. The team found the day worthwhile and purposeful and challenged us all as trustees of our organisation!

The following day I spent a lovely afternoon with Kirstyn, Girlguiding Glasgow Senior Section adviser, and our County Baden Powell Guides who were down at Achachairdeis for their BP adventure weekend participating in outdoor adventure activities and making new friendships as part of their award. The Guides made the most of me being there and gave me plenty of hints and tips on how to make Girlguiding Glasgow even better – thanks girls!

My last weekend of the month I had the pleasure of attending our County training day which I found very useful and reassuring when hearing all about our new programme. I left with plenty ideas to take away for my unit. It was a lovely day getting an opportunity to catch up with friends old and new.

So all in all it has been a busy but very enjoyable few weeks and I just need to get back on top on my Girlguiding inbox and the world will all make sense again!!

A busy few weeks lie ahead including our County Annual Review – Girlguiding Glasgow Celebrates. I look forward to seeing some of you there,